Stargate SG1: Loose Ends
by Caitlin-Todd
Summary: Semi-sequel to "Time In Between." The SG-1 team find themselves in another dimension, filled with deadly traps and followed by none other than the former Orici. D/V.
1. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

_I started writing on this fan fiction in the beginning of March, right after I'd finished __**Time In Between**_. _At that time "Stargate: The Ark Of Truth" hadn't been released yet so the storyline I had already begun working on for __**Loose Ends**__ was a sure thing back then. After watching "AoT" I realized that the movie's storyline sort of messed things up for me but I decided to stick with the original fan fiction storyline. So I guess you can think of __**Loose Ends**__ like something that occurred after "Unending" but before "AoT" which is how I look at it now. Just wanted to let everyone know the mix up in the storyline – I honestly didn't expect this fan fiction to take so long to finish. I've suffered some serious writer's block these past two months but the postponed release of "Stargate: Continuum" got me to finally put an end to __**Loose Ends**__. Which is also why the end might seem a little abrupt – I literality didn't have time on my side when I struggled to toss together something resembling the ending I had in mind before I ever started writing the beginning. At the moment I'm about to start watching "Stargate: Continuum" after waiting eight months so you could say I'm pretty damn ecstatic by now! _

_But I haven't forgotten about my, so far unwritten, "Stargate" fan fiction which is totally unrelated to these previous two I've uploaded. But it's hopefully an ever more unique storyline that I feel is too good to remain unwritten. Exactly when I'm going to start writing it is still undecided because right now I wanna enjoy a short vacation from fan fiction writing and I have to admit that the movie's ending will have a certain impact on __when__ I start writing. Until then, enjoy __**Loose Ends**__ and as always, I'm sorry about any potential spelling mishaps will probably occur now and then. _

**Long live D/V!**


	2. Chapter I

**CHAPTER I**

The day had started like any other. He'd gone about his work in the lab without any problems, consumed with the ancient translations like always. It wasn't until he was summoned to the debrief room that Daniel's otherwise ordinary day fell to pieces. The moment he walked through the door, he was met by Vala's teasing grin. She spun around in her chair next to Cam, obviously getting restless already. Daniel's face faltered for a second before he walked over to the empty seat next to Sam, doing his best to avoid direct eye contact with Vala.

"Dr. Jackson, how nice of you to join us," General Landry said and Daniel mustered up a polite smile in return. "I know it's been a lot of work lately and you were all looking forward to some time off. Well, I'm afraid that's gonna have to wait. I just received reports there's been a Prior sighting on PRL-321 which demands our fullest attention seeing as how the people there doesn't stand a chance. So I'm sending you over there to investigate whether it's cause for concern or just a false alarm."

"Sir, are we talking about _Priors_, as in more than one? Cause if so, I'd say we need some backup," Cam said and all eyes turned to General Landry.

"So far it only seems to be _a_ Prior and hopefully there won't be any more. If the situation calls for it, I'll have two teams on stand-by. I wouldn't send you in if I didn't think you couldn't handle it," General Landry said with confidence and Cam nodded.

"Yes, Sir. So when do we leave?" he asked.

"In less than an hour. I expect to hear from you the minute you get there, whatever you may discover. Dismissed."

The General got out of his chair and headed into his office, the look on his face not boding well. Cam turned to face the others, all of them exchanging concerned glances.

"So what does this mean? That the Priors have started acting on their own behalf? You'd think they'd discovered by now that their precious Ori gods are long gone. Or at least the Orici."

Vala's face hardened at the mentioning of Adria and Sam loudly cleared her throat, giving Cam a meaningful glance.

"Whatever the reason, I'm sure these people are in need of our help if the Priors have started taking over more planets," she said and Cam glanced over at Vala, who stared off into space in silence.

"You okay?" Cam blurted out and Vala abruptly snapped out of her daze, giving him a brave smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembered I have some packing to do before we leave," she said and got out of the chair, heading towards the doorway. "See you in a bit!"

As she disappeared out of sight, Cam turned to face the remaining members of his team.

"She's not okay," he stated and Sam shook her head.

"Doesn't look like it."

"We knew this would come. It was only a matter of time before the Priors and millions of Ori followers started forcing their religion on the rest of the galaxy," Cam said, sighing. "I'd just hoped we'd have more time to prepare."  
"Well it's not over yet," Sam said and Daniel, who'd been lost in thought, suddenly started paying attention to what his friends were talking about.

"Sam's right. We took away their gods and the Orici, which should count for something after all we've been through. I'm aware that their armada is gonna do everything in their power to hinder us, but we'll just have to show them that we won't back down. Remember when nobody thought it was even remotely possible to defeat the Goa'uld? Aside from Ba'al, I'd say we pretty much succeeded," Daniel said and Cam leaned back in his chair, giving Daniel a crocked smile.

"And how do we go about defeating these guys?" he asked and Daniel frowned.

"I haven't figured out that part yet," he sighed.

"And no one expects you to, Daniel. We'll take it one step at a time… _together_. Starting with today's mission," Sam said. "If we're lucky, it'll turn out to be a false alarm which will hopefully buy us some more time."

"Good point," Cam said. "It's probably just a false alarm."

Daniel wanted to believe that but when he saw his friends' face, he knew it didn't really matter if it was a false alarm or not. In the end, they'd have to deal with the very real threat of the Ori followers plan to enforce their religion on Earth. Which was harder to handle for some people than others.

* * *

Vala had just finished wit her packing, which had taken a lot longer than she'd expected, when someone knocked on the door. She quickly pulled her raven black hair into a messy ponytail before opening the door not all that surprised to find Daniel standing in the hallway. A smirk spread across her face before she could stop it, and she leaned against the doorframe waiting for Daniel to announce the reason behind his surprise visit.

"Vala, listen –"

Before he could get any further, Vala bluntly interrupted him.

"I'd love to stay and chat, darling, but as it so happens I'm running late. Well, actually, _we're_ running late. Wouldn't want to upset Cam so early in the morning," she said chirpily and grabbed her backpack off the floor and brushed past Daniel on her way out the door.

"All of the sudden we're worried about punctuality," Daniel muttered to himself as he saw Vala speeding down the hallway. He on the other took his time getting to Gate room, his head consumed with thoughts regarding their kiss a few nights back.

The night had started out pretty okay despite the fancy party, which was the part Daniel didn't like. But Vala had really surprised him; in more ways than one. After she'd ambushed him with that kiss he'd spent the remaining part of the night pacing his room, analyzing every bit that led up to the kiss. In the beginning, Daniel convinced himself that Vala had only kissed him because she was drunk. The next reason was that she just wanted to mess with him, which was even more believable considering that was typical Vala behavior. But as morning slowly came around Daniel had found himself wide awake, still just as confused and with the taste of Vala on his lips. Days had now passed since then and he felt it was time to finally confront the matter, although Vala certainly wasn't going to make it easy for him.

Daniel snapped out of his daze as he nearly collided with a wall while just barely making a left turn to the Gate room. The rest of the team were making idle chit chat, Vala in particular. She seemed busy annoying Cam about something the very moment as Daniel dragged his feet over to them.

"For the hundredth time, Vala, _no_!" Cam growled and Vala rolled her eyes, that familiar look of reluctance that Daniel had grown so accustomed to after all their quarrels.

"Honestly, Cam, I don't see what the big deal is! We're most likely facing a Prior and those guys can be… actually, I shouldn't have to explain it to you by now! Just let me get one hand grenade and we're good to go!" Vala exclaimed with dramatic hand gestures, putting on an innocent grin for show. Cam continued to glare at her, clearly being beyond annoyed with her for the persistent nagging.

"Right now I'm more concerned of the thought of you with a hand grenade than some religious weirdo with a glowing stick, so let's just drop this whole thing now and get on with the mission," he said with clenched teeth and quickly held out a dismissive hand at Vala as she opened her mouth to protest. "Forget it, Princess! You're lucky I even let you bring an extra zat!"

Vala put her hands on her hips in a defensive posture, glaring at Cam and Daniel could tell evil thoughts was swirling around inside her head in that moment. He quickly pulled himself back to reality before his mind drifted off again and turned his focus to the others instead. Whatever happened he decided he was going to keep his mind on the mission and nothing else, least of all Vala.

* * *

"And here I thought the last planet gave me the creeps," Cam muttered as the team noticed the deserted village. Nothing seemed damaged or sabotaged, but more like abandoned as if the people had just dropped everything and left.

"Uhm, guys, I don't think a Prior could've caused all of this alone," Daniel said with they were hesitantly entering the village. It looked to be slightly more developed than most villages and the interesting part was the statue positioned in the town square, surrounded by some kind of altar.

"I don't know, Jackson. Priors might've learned a few new tricks since last time. Wiping out entire planets is just the thing they do," Cam said, eyes fixated on the statue in front of them. Vala glanced around the empty village, getting shivers down her spine.

"It's too quiet," she mumbled and edged closer to Sam.

"Exactly. I don't think it's just the village that's deserted. The entire planet appears to be… empty," Daniel said and Cam abruptly turned his attention away from the statue.

"_Empty_? How's that possible? We just made contact with them a few hours ago."

"Well the 'how' I don't know, but I'm pretty sure about the 'who.' If there was a Prior here he could very well have something to do with the disappearance of all life forms."

"You think the Prior killed everything in order to prove a point?" Vala asked and Daniel shrugged.

"Not necessarily killed. There might be an alternative motive, seeing as how the planet and all the possessions are still here," he said, looking up at the statue. "Oh, and that."

"Yeah, exactly what is _that_?" Sam asked and stepped closer to the statue.

"Something incredibly ugly, that's for sure. Sam, be careful. Who knows if it's even a real statue," Cam said, stepping up alongside Sam before she touched anything.

"Looks like some kind of wooden creature," Vala thought aloud and slowly walked in a circle around the statue, observing it from every possible angle.

"I'm sure that's not the case," Daniel sighed and Vala suddenly came to a complete stop in front of Sam and Cam, narrowing her eyes at something on the statue.

"Daniel, I think you better take a look at this," she said, bending down to get a closer look. Daniel walked over to her with hesitant steps.

"What is it?" he asked and Vala looked up at him with a nonchalant shrug.

"Something boring," she said and stepped aside, pointing down at an inscription, oblivious to Daniel's deadly glare as usual.

"That suppose to tell me something?" he muttered.

"Only that you might find this gibberish interesting," Vala sighed. Daniel rolled his eyes at her and bent down, reading the inscription which didn't make much sense at all. But it got Daniel curious and interested, just as Vala had predicted.

"So, what'd it say?"

Daniel looked to his side, shrugging back as he noticed Vala bending down next to him. Their faces were inches apart as they locked eyes with each other.

"Jackson!" Cam interrupted and Daniel quickly turned his attention over to the others.

"Basically, it's telling us to look beyond the obvious and only then will we be able to hide in plain sight from unwanted forces," he explained in one swift breath. Cam glanced Sam and Teal'c in silence, confusion written all over his face.

"It's a riddle?" he finally asked hesitantly and Daniel shrugged.

"I guess. These things usually aren't very straight forward."

"You think you might be able to figure out its meaning?" Sam asked and walked over to Vala, whom was studying the inscription with unusual curiosity.

"I honestly don't know. I'm not even sure I got the general gist of it," Daniel sighed. "I mean, what kind of 'unwanted forces' would these people want to hide from? And more importantly, _where_ are they hiding?"

Just as Daniel finished uttering those words, Vala looked up from the statue inscription and froze almost immediately at the sight of what she'd feared they come across. A few hundred feet behind Daniel and the others stood a Prior, watching them with such 

intensity it gave Vala the chills. Daniel, Cam, Sam and Teal'c all turned around to see what had caught Vala's attention. Cam and Teal'c raised their weapons even though they knew it wouldn't do them much good.

"Hey buddy, you here all by yourself?" Cam called out to the Prior, only getting a blank stare in response. "Figures he's not the talkative type."

"I highly doubt he's here alone, which means these weapons are pretty much useless," Daniel said, very well knowing that wasn't reason enough for either Cam or Teal'c to lower their weapons.

"I say we get out of here before he contacts any of his Prior friends," Vala said and turned in the opposite direction of the Prior, only to stop dead in her tracks when noticing two more Priors staring at her from a distance.

"How fast do these guys work?" Sam asked, glancing in both directions. Vala slowly turned back around, not able to hide her unease. All of the sudden, the Priors raised their staffs in mid air. They remained frozen in that position for a while, as if giving the team a head start of some kind.

"Jackson, how about you figure out where that hiding place? Something tells me we're going to need real soon!" Cam muttered and Daniel quickly moved over to the statue again. He frantically read the inscription over and over, well aware that they were running out of time.

"Anything?" Sam pressed on, her weapon now aimed at the two other Priors. Vala forgot all about the Priors for a moment and looked down at Daniel, her eyes filled with what seemed to be hope. It had never failed her before when it came to Daniel and she refused to give up now.

"Jackson!" Cam snapped, causing both Daniel and Vala to look up. Their faces froze as they noticed the familiar figure in front of them. They certainly hadn't hoped to ever see her again.

"Adria…?" she whispered, getting goose bumps as Adria's eyes locked with hers.

"You really didn't expect to get rid of me so easily, did you?" Adria said, sounding disturbingly calm. The smirk on her face and the spark in her eyes was an ominous sign.

"But how… how you'd know we'd be here?" Vala asked, slowly stepping away from the statue, her hand resting on her P-90.

"That's of no importance. I've got you right where I want and there's really no use of fighting it, although it certainly would be far more entertaining that way," Adria said and looked directly at Cam and Teal'c.

"Sorry to disappoint you, darling, but we already made plans and they don't include you," Vala said sarcastically, earning herself a deadly glare from Adria as all three Priors aimed their staffs at the team.

"Nice going, Princess," Cam muttered, glancing back at Vala over his shoulder. "See what happens when you piss people off!"

Vala started biting her lower lip, turning to Daniel with a nervous grin.

"Any chance you got the location of that hiding place yet?"

Daniel looked from Vala to Adria, not liking the odds. He then looked down at the inscription, suddenly noticing what appeared to be some kind of symbol below the text. It'd nearly faded away but Daniel decided he didn't have enough time to properly interpret it. He closed his eyes and pushed down on the ragged surface, feeling the surroundings momentarily spinning around as a bright light came and went. Once everything seemed to have settled back Daniel carefully opened his eyes, relieved to see the faces of his team mates.

"What just happened?" Cam asked with a baffled expression while looking around the dark space. "Where did Adria go?"

Daniel got up on his feet, catching Vala's eye as he hesitantly made his way over to Cam.

"I don't think she went anywhere. I think _we_ did," he said and everyone stared at him.

"How? Or more importantly, _where_? What is this place?" Sam asked, shedding some light with the help of her flashlight.

"Could we be on another planet?" Vala asked and Daniel shrugged.

"I don't know but it looks like we're free from Adria… for now anyways."

"You know, that would be so much more comforting if this place didn't possibly hold an even greater threat!" Cam snapped.

"Only one way to find out," Sam said and pointed towards an opening further down.

"Or we could always stay here and radio for help," Vala blurted out, receiving an incredulous stare from both Daniel and Cam. "We'll just call that Plan B, I guess."

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Chapter II

**CHAPTER II**

"This is nice," Vala said with a hesitant smile, glancing around the woods. "Apart from the annoying fog."

She turned to the others, frantically waving her hands about. The fog clung to the clothes and skin, making it impossible to get away from.

"I think we'll survive a little fog. Can't say the same if Adria has her way with us," Daniel said and Vala slowly lowered her hands, forgetting all about the fog at the mentioning of Adria.

"Am I the only one surprised over the fact that she's back? I was kind of hoping not to hear from her for another couple of years," she said and Daniel's face softened when he saw the sadness in her eyes that she tried hiding.

"I guess she got sick of the God status and decided to finish what she started," Cam said with a shrug. "Either way, it's not good. Which is why we need to find a way back ASAP."

"I take it you know where we're going?" Sam asked and Cam looked around them, seeing nothing but trees through the fog.

"Not exactly. But there's gotta be a way out of this jungle," he said and turned in the opposite direction they'd come from. "That way!"

As the team made their way through the humid fog, stepping over twisted roots and dodging branches, Daniel invertible ended up next to Vala. He was still unsure of how to act around her and he really hated that uncomfortable feeling. He also hated what the mission was doing to her, more than any of them.

"You know, it's not necessary," Vala said and Daniel frowned at her. "This whole concerned thing you guys got going on. Admittedly, I'm not thrilled about Adria being back but I'm also well aware of what needs to be done. So you don't have to look at me like that."

Vala met Daniel's stare, putting on a brave smile that didn't quite make it all the way up to her otherwise sparkling eyes.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm about to break. Like I'm not capable to handle it because she… might've been my daughter long ago."

"Vala, no one thinks that. We know you're just as capable as the rest of us," Daniel said and Vala looked away, covering her mouth as she started coughing.

"You okay?" Daniel asked with a concerned frown. Vala nodded as the coughing stopped, turning back to face him.

"Unless I might actually be allergic to fog, I'm fine," she said with a genuine smile and despite the circumstances, Daniel was relieved to see a smile on her face again.

* * *

Cam practically collapsed against the tree with an exhausted grunt. The others leaned up against a fallen tree trunk, catching their breath.

"I'm starting to think this damn forest never ends!" Cam muttered and covered his face with a sigh.

"Are you alright, Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c asked and Cam slowly nodded.

"Just got a bit of a headache all of a sudden," he said in a muffled voice.

"Same here," Sam sighed and Vala's coughing started back up again. Daniel himself was starting to feel dizzy, as well as surprisingly exhausted. They had been walking through the woods for a while but he knew their symptoms weren't caused by the walk alone.

"Sudden onset headache, coughing, dizziness. Not to mention the exhaustion," Daniel said and Cam looked up at him.

"What are you saying, Jackson?"

"That we need to get out of the woods before the fog can cause any more damage."

All eyes turned to Sam when she suddenly started coughing. Vala rested her head carefully against the tree trunk while trying to fight the sudden dizziness.

"Okay, this is bad," Cam said and reluctantly got up on his feet. "We have to keep going before _this_, whatever it is, gets any worse."

He pulled Sam up on her feet, feeling his headache getting worse already. Daniel turned to Vala, who looked at him with a heavy sigh.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, although it was obvious that she felt like crap.

"I've been better," she said and struggled up on her feet, stumbling into Daniel who had gotten up when she did. He grabbed hold of her shoulders to keep her from falling. It was a harmless gesture but Daniel couldn't help but feeling awkward despite his dizziness and the growing headache. Vala hardly noticed Daniel's hesitant hands on her shoulders as the dizziness was getting more intense and harder to keep under control.

"Let's go."

Cam's voice echoed inside her head as she automatically moved forward, managing to avoid tripping over anything. She knew Daniel was right beside her but for once she couldn't feel the tingling butterflies in her stomach.

As they moved through the fog, Vala could feel it being absorbed into her lungs and filling up her body. She made a vague attempt at holding her breath but that only slowed her down. The coughing was the other thing slowing her down, even more than the dizziness.

"Guys!" Cam suddenly called out, signaling the others to hurry up. "I think I've found the way out!"

Vala watched as they picked up the pace, while she felt her legs giving out. The exhaustion had gotten worse and all she wanted to do was to sleep. At the far end of the woods Vala thought she saw clear blue sky but her feet wouldn't carry her any further. She heard someone calling out her name in the distance and could barely make out the two figures running towards her as she hit the ground.

* * *

"_Vala_!"

Vala reluctantly opened her eyes, momentarily blinded by the sunlight. She let out a grunt as she slowly sat up, surprised to feel the soft grass underneath her hands.

"I was beginning to think we'd have to carry you the rest of the way," Cam said and Vala looked up to find the rest of the team staring down at her. Cam pointed to Teal'c with a nonchalant shrug.

"Well actually Big Guy here would've done the carrying while I did the navigating, but still, it's good to see you're awake."

Sam walked over and helped Vala up on her feet with a compassionate look on her face.

"As soon as we got clear of the fog our symptoms were completely gone in a matter of minutes," she said and in that moment Vala realized she was feeling perfectly fine.

"Well Muscles," she sighed, turning to Teal'c. "I might just take you up on your offer."

Teal'c stared at her, an arched eyebrow firmly in place.

"It would appear you are well enough to travel by foot, Vala Mal Doran. I believe that is what we were hoping for," he said and Vala looked to Cam and Daniel, failing at holding back a smile.

"You boys sure know how to make a girl feel special," she said and winked at them.

"Glad to see you're feeling better, Princess," Cam said. "Now, we should probably keep going before Adria decides to accompany us."

"This is starting to feel more like one of those video games you're so fond of, Mitchell," Vala said with a shrug and before Cam could object, Daniel interjected.

"Actually, that's not a half bad comparison. Whoever came up with this alternative dimension wanted to make sure the wrong kind of people couldn't find the hiding place."

"I thought _this_ was the hiding place, given we're in an actual alternative dimension!" Cam said and gestured towards the two opposite sceneries. On the one side of the separating ditch there were the fogged woods and on the other side was a beautiful clearing right before a long dark tunnel appeared.

"Impressive," Vala said as she looked back at the fog, very vividly remembering the state she'd been in a few minutes ago.

"Looks like there's no other way out of here aside from that tunnel," Sam said and pointed to the tunnel entrance.

"Of course not," Cam muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It doesn't look so bad. I'm sure it can't be worse than the fog," Vala said as she began moving towards the tunnel.

"Don't say that! You'll probably jinx it," Cam said and Vala spun around, the ponytail swaying back and forth. She looked at Cam with a cheeky smile firmly in place.

"Not like Daniel jinxed us back there with the poisonous fog," she said with a quick glance at Daniel. "Unless you wanna take your chances with Adria, I'd say a tunnel isn't the end of the world."

Cam and Daniel both glared at her but Vala disregarded it with a triumphant smirk. She turned back around towards the tunnel, not awaiting instructions before she headed inside with her P-90 at the ready. Sam looked over at Cam and Daniel, realizing they were still glaring at Vala.

"Guys," Sam said, clearing her throat. "We should probably get going."

Cam and Daniel exchanged glances before heading into the tunnel without another word.

"You appear concerned, Colonel Carter," Teal'c stated as he noticed the frown on Sam's face.

"I have a feeling this is gonna be a long mission," she sighed as they followed the others into the tunnel.

"Because of these obstacles?"

"Yeah… that too."

* * *

"Does thing _ever_ end?" Vala whined, her voice echoing through the tunnel.

"Weren't you the one who claimed that this tunnel wasn't the end of the world?" Cam said with a smirk.

"That was before I realized it involved this much walking! It's pure torture!" Vala exclaimed and Daniel, who'd taken the lead alongside Cam, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Do you guys hear something?" he asked, slowly turning around towards the others.

"You mean apart from Vala's whining?" Cam said and Vala shot him a warning glare.

"No, no. Something else. Something…"

Daniel looked down on the ground, realizing he was actually standing in something wet.

"Wait! I do hear something," Sam said and this time everyone turned around, listening for the distant echoing sound that seemed to be getting closer.

"That's weird," Vala mumbled. "That almost sounds like…"

"_Water_!"

Without thinking twice, the team turned on their heels and started running away from the forceful tide of water heading towards them. They could hear it constantly closing in while filling up the tunnel with water.

"Does this God damn tunnel _ever_ end?" Cam cried out as they picked up the pace, but it didn't seem to do them much good.

"The water has to clear out at some point seeing as how the tunnel would otherwise have been under water from the start," Daniel said as he pulled up alongside Cam again.

"Great. Any idea where there's a big giant hole? 'Cause I'm pretty sure we can't outrun that thing," Cam grunted and Daniel looked ahead of them, seeing a dimmed light at the end of the tunnel which seemed to be miles away.

"There! It's just up ahead!"

"Let's go!" Cam shouted to the others as the tide closed in on them, the sound of rushing water almost unbearable.

The exit slowly came into view as the team pushed themselves to run even faster, hearing the tide right behind them. Vala realized the water had already started to reach them when she saw it building up around her feet. She looked up at the others, unsure if they'd noticed it yet. For once she didn't bother pointing it out now that they were so close to escaping death by drowning.

Those last few meters felt endless but they finally reached the opening, suddenly pulling to a complete stop for a moment when they noticed that they were standing out on a ledge staring down at a giant bottomless pit.

"Look out!" Cam shouted as the water came rushing towards the opening. Vala looked back at it, suddenly being pulled aside. They pressed up against the rough mountain wall on the far side of the ledge as the water pushed through the opening and ran down the pitch black hole. Once it had dissipated, the team let out matching sighs of relief. Cam slowly took a step forward and watched as the last drops of water dripped down alongside the mountain.

"So much for not jinxing it," he said while turning to the others, eyes focused on Vala.

"How was I suppose to know the tunnel was a deathtrap?" she exclaimed, letting her hair hang loose down her shoulders.

"Unless you haven't noticed, this entire dimension is one big deathtrap!" Cam muttered and realized Vala was paying more attention to her wet hair than him. She twisted it about, grunting as water practically poured down on the ground.

"So what do we do now? There must be a way off this ledge apart from _that_," Sam said, pointing to the hole staring back at them.

"Maybe we missed something back in the tunnel?" Vala pondered out loud while pulling her damp hair into a tight ponytail. The team turned around just in time to see the opening to the tunnel being sealed up.

"Oh come _on_! Not again!" Cam cried out in disbelief and Daniel glanced around the hollow mountain with a weary expression.

"I'm really starting to hate this," Sam sighed and suddenly felt a slap on the arm. She turned to stare at Vala, whose attention was directed elsewhere.

"Vala, what's…?"

Sam drifted off as she noticed a narrow passage way leading over to the other side of the mountain.

"That's new," Cam mumbled and Daniel carefully took a step forward, gingerly touching the passage way with his foot.

"I think we're supposed to cross over on this," Daniel said and stepped down onto the passage way, not daring to do any sudden movements just in case.

"And how do we know it's not just another trap? If it that thing breaks there's nothing stopping us from freefalling," Cam said and Daniel forcefully stomped on the passage way, disregarding the others' loud protests.

"It seems safe enough to me. Besides, it's not like we get any other way out of here," he said, nodding at the closed opening behind them. Vala hesitated for a moment before she quickly stepped out on the passage way, avoiding looking down.

"You do know you just jinxed us… _again_?" she said to Daniel and he smiled at her.

"Then I guess we're even."

Vala grabbed a steady hold of his arm as they moved further out on the passage way. She made the mistake of glancing over the edge, getting chills down her spine.

"I suppose this is a bad time admitting I'm scared of heights?" Vala said and Daniel shot her a surprised look.

"Since when?"

"Since now."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks," Sam said and Vala snorted.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it is!"

"So much for positive thinking," Daniel interjected.

"I tried that once. Didn't work."

As they got closer to the end of the passage way, Vala slowly let go of Daniel and gladly stepped back onto solid ground again.

"That was surprisingly easy," she said while the others got up on the ledge. The moment Teal'c, whom was last in line, got off the passage way it immediately reverted back under the ledge. At the same Daniel noticed that an opening appeared behind them, revealing the same kind of dark tunnel like on the other side.

"I'm guessing whoever built this little obstacle course was a firm believer in walking," Vala sighed and pulled a sore face as she peered inside the tunnel.

"Exactly, so suck it up and let's go," Cam said and brushed past Vala as he headed into the tunnel.

"What if this one is gonna fill up with water too?" Vala asked and turned to Daniel.

"From the looks of it, the water only goes in on direction so we should be in the clear," he said and although his words didn't guarantee anything, Vala chose to believe him. Their eyes lingered on each other for a moment until Vala turned around and followed the others into the tunnel.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter III

**CHAPTER III**

"Okay, who's up for a break?" Cam asked as he turned around facing the others. They'd been walking down the tunnel for what seemed like forever without an end in sight, which had them all feeling exhausted.

"Perhaps a little rest will do us some good," Daniel said and just as he'd finished the sentence, Vala dropped her gear on the ground and sank down next to it with a heavy sigh. She leaned against the mountain wall, fishing out an energy bar from the pocket on her BDU.

"Well then," Cam sighed. "Guess we'll take five."

Daniel casually walked over and sat down alongside Vala, relieving himself of the heavy packing.

"Everything okay?" he asked and Vala swallowed her first bite of the energy bar, contemplating his question for a moment before answering.

"Aside from complete and utter exhaustion, I can't really complain."

Daniel could barely refrain from smiling at her ironical statement. How typical of Vala to lighten the mood while feeling sorry for herself. As he took a sip of water, Daniel suddenly remembered the thing he'd promised himself not to think about. But somehow, momentarily flashes of their kiss came to mind.

"A dollar for your thoughts."

Daniel snapped out of his daze, turning to give Vala a confused stare.

"Huh?"

Vala tipped her head slightly to the side, unable to hold back an amused grin.

"A dollar for your thoughts," she repeated and took another bite of her energy bar.

"Oh, I was just thinking about a way out of his mess. And it's a penny," Daniel said and Vala shrugged nonchalantly.

"I like mine better," she said, downing the last piece of the energy bar. Daniel stared at her as she tucked away the plastic wrapper, and pulling out a water bottle. She stretched out her legs with a heavy grunt while taking a sip of water.

"So listen," Daniel said, nervously clearing his throat. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"I know, I know! I won't be bringing food to your precious lab again, darling, so don't you worry your pretty little head about that," Vala teased and Daniel quickly shook his head.

"No, not _that_. I was referring to the other thing."

Vala slowly put the cork back on the bottle, a nervous smile appearing on her face.

"You know, darling, whatever I said or did you can thank the champagne for. Most of that night is still kind of a blur," she said, tucking away a strand of hair.

"And here I thought our alcohol had no effect on you," Daniel said sarcastically. He tried telling himself that it was good news that she didn't remember anything, but deep down he couldn't ignore the feeling of disappointment rising up.

"I guess I overdid myself," Vala said with a shrug and quickly changed the subject. "So you think we'll be out of this maze anytime soon?"

Daniel stared at her in silence for moment until a tired sigh escaped him.

"Well, I'm no psychic but I can't imagine this thing lasting much longer. I also have a feeling Adria will try anything to get to us and she definitely has the resources for it," he said and Vala gave a quick nod.

"I doubt she'll have a problem travelling between dimensions thanks to her new fancy powers. But that doesn't explain how she knew we'd be on that planet. Even though she most likely planned the whole Prior thing, she couldn't count on the fact that our team would be the ones going to that exact planet," she said.

"She had the power to play tricks with our minds even before she ascended, so I'm sure she can do much more now no matter where she is," Daniel said and Vala scoffed.

"Great! Even as an Ascended being she's making my life miserable!"

Daniel gave her a compassionate look and watched with slight amuse as Vala grew restless by just sitting still. She glanced down at her wrist watch several times in under a minute before looking over at the others. They seemed to be more relaxed than her in that moment and Daniel couldn't help but wonder if maybe Vala's theory on Adria could've been right after all. If so, they were in far worse trouble than Daniel wanted to admit even to himself.

* * *

The tunnel was even longer this time, and at one point the team discussed the possibilities of it actually being endless. Vala had loudly objected to that theory and in the end she'd convinced the others to keep walking and not give it another thought. After that it took quite a while before they suddenly reached a crossing.

"I dunno about you but I wasn't exactly expecting this," Cam said as they stood in front of the crossing with hesitant expressions.

"Which way leads out of here?" Sam asked and Vala shrugged, in turn looking to Daniel.

"I don't know," he sighed and turned to Cam, trying to ignore Vala's stare. "Despite the obvious risk, I'm afraid our only option is to split up into teams in order to find out which tunnel is the way back."  
"You do know one of these tunnels could very well mean certain death? If we split up and either one of us heads down the wrong tunnel, we won't be able to radio for help," Cam said and looked at the others.

"So we'll use smoke signals," Daniel said sarcastically. "Cam, I really don't think we have any other choice at this point. If we all head into the wrong tunnel it'll take twice as long to get back to the right one."

"Fine. You've made your point. We'll split up and pray to someone's God that we'll meet up again at the end," Cam said with a solemn expression and the team moved out into the separate tunnels without another word.

"Mind if I ask why you thought this was a good idea," Vala whispered to Daniel as they carefully walked down the pitch black tunnel together.

"Weren't you listening back there?" Daniel muttered and Vala sighed.

"Honestly, you expect me to pay attention to _everything_ you say?"

Daniel bit back his retort, trying to focus on where they were going instead. However Vala's grunts and incoherent whispers made it nearly impossible for Daniel to fully concentrate on the task at hand.

"Unless you actually have something useful to say, I suggest you shut it," he snapped and Vala glared at him.

"Aren't we being particular cranky today," she muttered. "I thought you liked this sort of thing."

"Why would I possibly _like_ this?!" Daniel cried out, frantically waving his hands about.

"Maybe because of all the puzzles and riddles," Vala snapped and forcefully put her foot down, steadily holding Daniel's glare.

"That's how you see this? Like some sort of game? So I guess the part about nearly dying of poisoning and drowning has been a blast!" Daniel grunted and Vala wrinkled her nose, giving him a perplexed stare.

"What are you talking about? There haven't been any explosions!"

Daniel hung his head and sighed heavily, muttering something under his breath.

"It's a saying. It means… never mind. The point is, we need to hurry up before uninvited company arrives or we both go nuts," he said and pulled Vala along by her arm.

"Do we even know where this tunnel leads? Feels like we're going around in circles by now," Vala said and abruptly wriggled free of Daniel's grip.

"All we can do is keep walking and hope we're _not_ going around in circles. But if you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear it," Daniel said and Vala pouted.

"Fine. We'll keep walking, but only because I can't stand being stuck here much longer," she sighed and started walking down the tunnel without waiting for Daniel.

"You and me both," he muttered as he sauntered after her.

* * *

Vala swaggered about the tunnel, humming the same melody over and over again. Daniel looked down at his wrist watch, a grunt escaping him. Vala suddenly stopped humming and instead she glanced back at Daniel over her shoulder.

"Daniel, you might wanna take a look at this," she said hesitantly and Daniel walked up alongside her, stunned at the sight in front of them. Down below the tunnel a wide open space appeared with a tornado in its center, practically ripping the whole place apart.

"Okay, this isn't good," he mumbled.

"That's an understatement! Daniel, how are we supposed to get to the other side? I'm no expert but that tornado looks mighty powerful and we're as good as dead if we try cutting across it, so please tell me there's some hidden passage way I'm not seeing," Vala said, barely able to maintain calm. Daniel leaned against the tunnel opening, a tired sigh escaping him.

"There isn't one," he said and Vala stared at him in a moment of stunned silence.

"You can't be serious!" she suddenly exclaimed. "There's no way I'm going anywhere near that thing! I'm sorry, but we've just gonna have to come up with another plan."

Daniel watched as Vala started to nervously pace back and forth inside the tunnel, desperately trying to figure out another option. One that didn't involve getting sucked up by a deadly tornado. But in the end, they both knew their only option meant passing the tornado in order to reach the other side. Vala however refused to face it yet and so Daniel decided she needed a push in the right direction.

"Vala," he said and grabbed hold of her hand, only this time Vala didn't try to break free. She looked down at their intertwined hands, perplexed at the sudden and unusual contact.

"Trust me," Daniel said and Vala looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Last time I heard you say that I was facing execution, so might I suggest you chose your words more carefully in the future," she said and Daniel smiled faintly at her.

"Well, you're still here so I must've done something right," he said and slowly let go of her hand. Vala knew better than to argue with him on that point, seeing as how he had come to the rescue eventually. She shrugged nonchalantly and turned towards watching the tornado again, realizing that she was losing the debate by a landslide.

"So," she sighed. "I suppose we should try and stay away from the eye of– _what_?"

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to; that look on your face says it all."

Vala smirked at Daniel before stepping a foot outside of the tunnel. The tornado was tugging at her clothes already and as she looked up, Vala noticed that the tornado seemed to originate from the top of the mountain.

"Look at that thing," she said, looking over at Daniel.

"This place is huge," Daniel said and they both looked around the wide open space spreading out in front of them. "We could fit five or six football fields in here."  
Vala turned and gave him a puzzled look.

"I'll explain later," Daniel said while waving her off. "Come on, let's go."

Vala grabbed hold of Daniel's backpack before they hesitantly started making their way past the tornado up against the wall. One wrong step and they could easily be sucked up by the powerful tornado, which gave Vala shivers.

"I sure hope the others are having better luck!"

* * *

"This doesn't look so bad," Cam said as he stepped out of the tunnel.

"It never does," Sam said skeptically with her eyes fixated on the massive round platform in front of them.

"I believe it is another test," Teal'c stated as he observed the platform from a safe distance. Cam walked up to it, poking at it with his P-90.

"I don't doubt that it's another test but since it apparently takes up this entire space, our only way to the other side is across it," he said and turned to Sam and Teal'c.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," Sam sighed and reluctantly walked up alongside Cam.

"If it makes you feel any better we could always hold hands," Cam joked and Sam failed at holding back an amused smile.

"No thanks. I think I'll manage."

"Well then," Cam said, looking up at the platform. "Let's get going kids."

The three SG-1 members simultaneously stepped up onto the platform, getting a feel for its stability before they started heading across it. Just because the platform wasn't falling apart didn't mean they were in the clear yet, so they picked up their pace considerably.

"Looks like another tunnel opening up ahead," Cam said and suddenly he felt the ground moving around underneath his feet. "What the hell is happening?"

Sam looked down, realizing that the platform was starting to circulate and it got worse by the second.

"The platform, it's going around in circles."

"Why?"

"I don't know but I have feeling it's about to get a lot worse."

They stopped walking for a moment, sensing that the platform was doing something than just rotating around in circles. They stumbled backwards, bumping into each other while getting closer to the center of the platform.

"What's happening?"

"The platform is turning over! We're dead if we don't get to the other side _now_!"

Cam struggled forward, regaining his footing while pulling Sam and Teal'c along with him away from the expanding center. The platform's speed increased and at the same time it tipped further sideways, making it harder for them to maintain balance.

"This is getting ridiculous!"

"It's getting worse the closer to the edge we get!"

"So you're saying we should let us get sucked down that hole and get crushed to death?"

"No, I'm saying we should hurry up! It can most likely sense where we are and that's why it's getting harder!"

Cam mustered up his last ounce of strength and once they finally reached the edge, the platform had nearly tipped over 180 degrees already. For the moment, it wasn't moving but Cam knew that meant the remaining 180 degrees would be even worse.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm thinking we're gonna have to jump," he said and looked down at the tunnel opening ahead of them. Sam peered down the platform, feeling it starting to vibrate under her feet again. She made no attempt of hiding her reluctance at the thought of jumping from the platform.

"It's now or never guys," Cam said, glancing sideways at Sam and Teal'c. They met his glance, both looking as uncertain as him but they also knew they were out of options.

"You ready?"

"Not really!"

"Fair enough."

Without further a due, they exchanged another quick glance before they jumped off the edge of the platform, falling uncontrollably down towards the ground screaming for dear life just as the platform came crashing down behind them.

* * *

Vala pressed herself up against the mountain wall as much as humanly possible, checking to see that Daniel was still with her.

"This is insane!" she shouted to him as they carefully moved alongside the wall, every so often having to jump out of the way from rocks flying through the air.

"I thought you liked this sort of thing!" Daniel shouted back and Vala took a moment to glare at him.

"Now is hardly the time to try and be funny. Do you see that thing?" she cried out and pointed at the tornado. "It could very well rip us apart at any second!"

"Only if you don't quit your whining and get a move on!" Daniel muttered and nudged Vala in the direction of the tunnel opening on the opposite side. She rolled her eyes, resisting the sudden urge to give Daniel a good old slap across the face. Reverting to violence during frustrating situations had been her way of dealing her whole life but since joining SG-1 Vala had, reluctantly at times, taken to words instead of beating. Although she still had her moments where the frustration was almost too much to bare and Daniel was often the main reason behind all that frustration.

Vala quickly snapped out of her daze when her foot bumped up against something hard. She slowly looked down at the ground, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Until she moved back her foot, releasing some sort of mechanism. Vala looked over at the tornado, momentarily frozen on the spot. Before she had a chance to warn Daniel, the ground opened up and swallowed them.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Chapter IV

**CHAPTER IV  
**

"Shouldn't we've reached the end by now? It feels like we're growing old down here!"

Cam and Teal'c simultaneously turned their heads, staring at Sam. She shifted positing against the rough mountain wall and sighed heavily, eventually noticing that her two team mates were staring at her.

"What? I'm not allowed to complain?" she snapped and Cam quickly shook his head.

"No no, of course you are. It's just–"

"It is not often you are the one to complain, Colonel Carter."

"Exactly."

Sam stared at them in silence until a heavy grunt escaped her. She opened up her backpack and took out a water bottle, remaining silent while savoring the taste of refreshing water.

"I'm sorry," she said and put the cap back on the bottle. "Guess this whole 'field trip' is getting to me. I can hardly remember how we ended up here.

"You mean aside from Jackson's brilliant plan?"

"Ha ha. I was talking about this dimension. What's to say Adria has even managed to break through? Maybe we're rushing along for no other reason than trying to get back to the right dimension."

"Sounds like a good enough reason for me."

"Yes, I know but… oh never mind. At this point I'd settled for any kind of soft spot in order to get some sleep or some sort of food source aside from these energy bars."

"I as well would not object to resting. It's unsure of what obstacle lies ahead. Perhaps we should take advantage of this opportunity," Teal'c said and Sam gave him thumbs up, a relieved smile spreading across her tired face. Cam removed his P-90 and hesitantly relaxed against the mountain wall, admitting his defeat in the discussion with a single glare at Sam.

"So," Sam said, quickly changing the subject. "I wonder how Daniel and Vala are doing."

"I'm more curious as to _what_ they're doing," Cam muttered.

Vala fumbled around in the dark, freezing up when her hand found the empty pocket.

"Oh no," she mumbled, starting to panic. Next to her, Daniel let out a grunt while slowly starting to move around.

"Where are we?" he whispered. Vala took her hand out of the pocket, turning towards Daniel. She listened to his slow breathing, determining he was sitting to her right.

"That part is still unclear. No pun intended," she said and even in the darkness, Daniel could practically see her trademark grin. He searched around for his gear, relieved to find it close nearby. The short but uncomfortable, fall had been enough to knock them out for a while but for how long was impossible to know.

"You okay?" Daniel asked while going through the pockets of his backpack.

"Hardly!" Vala cried out in dismay and Daniel abruptly stopped his search of a flashlight, turning in Vala's direction.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm out of food!"

Daniel hung his head, inwardly counting to ten before he spoke again.

"But you're unharmed?"

Vala shifted around in the darkness for a moment and Daniel could tell she was checking for any kind of wounds.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said and Daniel sighed.

"Then that makes two of us. Now, how about we try and figure out where we are?"

"It's impossible to see anything down here! And as far as flashlights go, mine doesn't work at all. I imagine the missing half has something to do with it," Vala said and continued her search for any kind of food despite having the odds against her. Daniel finally located a flashlight amongst the rest of her gear, hesitating for a second before he turned it on. Vala quickly turned away from the sudden bright light, waiting for her eyes to readjust.

"This looks promising," Daniel sighed and Vala squinted her eyes in the direction where the flashlight was aimed. She stared at the wall in silence, fighting the panic that was building up inside of her. Daniel searched the space with the flashlight, seeing nothing else but walls. As he finally looked up, he could just barely make out a tiny opening above them which was their only source of oxygen.

"Please tell me I'm hallucinating and that's why I can't see the way out of here," Vala mumbled and looked at Daniel with frightened eyes.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks," he said, deliberately avoiding meeting Vala's stare. He knew as well as she did that no apparent exit was located inside the chamber they were stuck in, but he didn't have the heart to tell her how screwed they were.

"How can you be sure of anything at this point? Daniel, we're _trapped_! And without a way out of here, we're spending the reminder of our shortened lives in this place!" Vala exclaimed and struggled to her feet, beginning to pace around the chamber.

"We're dead ham!"

"Meat."

"_Whatever_! Either way we're dead!"

Vala rubbed her sore neck, feeling completely exhausted after all the walking and running. She abruptly stopped pacing, let out a tired sigh and sat back down.

"Feeling better?"

"Much."

* * *

"We did rule out the possibility of this tunnel being endless?"

"Not really, but I doubt that it is. What's the point of all this if it's just endless walking and never reaching the hiding place?"

"I don't think whoever created this thing was too concerned about the distance. But I guess we keep on walking and hope that we actually meet up with Daniel and Vala sooner or later."

"Colonel Mitchell."

"What?"

Cam abruptly pulled to a stop next to Teal'c, looking further ahead in the tunnel.

"Exactly what am I looking at?" he asked and Teal'c picked up a rock off the ground, throwing it down the tunnel. As it hit the ground, a hole instantly opened up and the rock disappeared.

"Okay," Cam mumbled. "That's not good. I take it we're about to walk into another death trap."

"It would appear so. I believe these traps are triggered by motion," Teal'c said and Cam sighed, remaining standing on the same spot.

"So it seems. And we have no idea how many of these holes there is or _where_ they're located. I'd say today is really not our lucky day."

"So what do we do? I don't think we can rely on throwing rocks to get us past this trap," Sam said and Cam picked up another rock, giving her an uncertain look.

"At this point, we're pretty much out of options."

He bent down and slid the rock across the ground down the tunnel. It didn't get very far until a hole opened up and the rock got swallowed.

"Well then," Cam sighed. "There we have our first opening."

"You sure this will work?" Sam asked.

"No more sure than I've been until this point. But it's still our only chance so I say we take it."

* * *

Vala shifted nervously around next to Daniel, glancing at her wrist watch and mentally hitting herself for forgetting she couldn't tell the time in the pitch black darkness.

"Do you mind?" Daniel sighed and Vala looked at him, settling down against the chamber wall with a heavy grunt.

"I can't believe you're so calm at a time like this!"

"Well you ranting aren't exactly helping matters, so how about you actually focus on finding a way out of here?"

"Unless you expect us to walk through walls, there's no way out! Face it, Daniel, we're dead!"

Vala's voice echoed in the empty chamber and was later followed by complete silence. Daniel didn't bother with a response seeing as how Vala couldn't be reasoned with under the current circumstances. He wasn't one to blame her considering he had just about given up hope already.

"I wonder if the others are okay," Vala mumbled and rested her head against Daniel's shoulder, oblivious to his sudden tension. "Maybe they've gotten back to the planet already. Either way, they can't be worse off than we are."

Daniel stared firmly on the wall in front of him, trying to think of something to say. He usually wasn't one known for staying positive in dire situations but truth be told, he'd been in worse trouble before. He knew Vala normally gave up when realizing she was cornered, depending on what or who stood in her way. This time it was solid mountain walls that literality stood in their way and for the moment Vala showed no sign of even trying to kick her way out, which meant the worst was yet to come.

"You wanna hear something shocking?" Vala said quietly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Daniel felt her shift about against him and as he carefully glanced down at her profile, he could tell she was being serious.

"If this is about your fear of small spaces –"

"I lied."

"Excuse me?"

Vala straightened up, releasing a heavy sigh as she looked the other way. She wasn't quite sure why she'd said it but there was no going back now. They were stuck together and knowing Daniel, he wouldn't leave her alone until she told him the truth and Vala figured it didn't matter anymore since they most likely would never see daylight again.

"Before, when you asked me if I remembered anything about the night of the party, I wasn't being completely honest with you. I do actually remember pretty much everything that happened that night," Vala said hesitantly, still reluctant to even meet Daniel's stare.

"Why'd you lie?" Daniel asked, sounding surprisingly calm. Vala slowly turned to face him, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Doesn't really matter now. We're not getting out of here alive so we might as well make peace with our maker."

"Okay, that's the hunger talking. Vala, we're not going to die down here so stop your fussing," Daniel said and handed Vala his water bottle.

"And here I thought the whole impending death thing might actually turn out to be quite promising," Vala smirked, taking a sip of water. "If you catch my drift."

"You make it very hard _not to_."

"Darling, you really shouldn't make a girl work so hard for it."

"_It_ being what exactly?"

Vala winked at him, wiggling the half empty water bottle in front of him.

"That's for you to find out. More fun that way," she said and Daniel grabbed the water bottle, glaring at her before he put it away.

"Figures you'd stay serious for two whole seconds before starting back up with your so-called jokes. I was under the impression you actually wanted out of here or have you had a sudden change of heart?"

Vala's smirk slowly dissipated when she realized Daniel was being serious and not just sarcastic. She leaned in, holding his stare for a brief moment before abruptly pulling him closer and initiated a kiss that was far more passionate than the last one. This time Vala didn't pull away and neither did Daniel. He pulled her closer to him as the kiss deepened, decreasing the space between them until they were practically intertwined. Vala kept on tugging at Daniel's vest, deepening the kiss with every ounce of strength she had. Deep down she knew it couldn't last forever and eventually she reluctantly broke off the kiss, but she remained right where she was. They stared at each other in silence while catching their breath, both unsure of what to say next.

"_Hello Mother_."

Vala's heavy breathing quickly ceased and she immediately looked around the chamber, expecting to find Adria standing there smirking at her.

"Vala, what's wrong?" Daniel asked hesitantly with a puzzled look on his face.

"Did you hear that?" Vala asked, getting out of Daniel's lap while frantically searching the enclosed chamber.

"Hear what?"

"_Don't bother, Mother, he can't hear me. No one can but you actually. And I can hear your every thought and every emotion. By the way, sorry for interrupting your little… moment. I was growing impatient trying to catch up with you so I decided to cut to the chase_."

"What do you –"

"_Want? Haven't you figured it out by now, Mother? Or perhaps I should call you Vala from now on, seeing as how you made it perfectly clear that I was never your daughter_."

Daniel watched as Vala appeared to be having a conversation with the wall in front of her. The concerned look on her face told Daniel there was something strange going on, and so he got up on his feet and walked over to Vala with the flashlight in hand.

"Vala," he said, staring her straight in the eye. "You mind telling me what's going on? Who are you talking to?"

"It's Adria. She knows where we are," Vala blurted out and Daniel stared at her blankly.

"And how is that possible?" he asked and Vala hesitated for a moment, searching Daniel's face for any kind of reason not to tell him the truth but she guessed it wasn't something he hadn't heard before.

"Because she's reading my mind as we speak and that's her own little way of communicating with me. I'd say her powers have really –"

"_Grown? More than you can imagine, Vala. I'll be with you shortly so don't go anywhere_."

Vala felt a headache coming on as Adria left her conscious for the time being. She grabbed hold of Daniel's arm, giving him a determined stare.

"We have to get out here."

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Chapter VI

**CHAPTER VI**

"Well that went better than expected," Cam sighed and Sam stared at him, clearly not agreeing with him.

"Maybe for you. I was the one nearly falling flat on my face, which wouldn't have been so bad aside from nearly getting crushed to death."

"Good thing Teal'c got fast reflexes."

Sam turned to Teal'c and smiled tiredly at him.

"Thank you again, Teal'c," she said.

"I'm glad I could be of assistance, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said and bowed his head.

"So," Cam said while taking a sip of water. "Anyone care to bet where the hell we are? How do we even know if we've reached another level?"

Sam rubbed her sore shoulder while carefully scanning the tunnel for anything helpful. All she could see was another seemingly endless tunnel leading to another possible trap.

"Do you believe there are different levels, Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c asked and Cam shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not really, but at the moment I suppose it's a way of understanding what's happening to us."

"I honestly couldn't care less what we call it at this point. All I need to know is that all this walking is going to be the death of me if we don't get back to the planet anytime soon," Sam muttered and leaned back against the wall with a discomforted sigh.

"Well that's why we're taking a break… _again_. I think we've all had enough of the walking by now. I just hope we better reach our destination real soon," Cam sighed and handed Sam the water bottle.

"We can always hope Daniel and Vala have managed to get back to the planet already and are trying to figure out a way of helping us back," she mumbled tiredly.

* * *

"We're so dead."

Vala looked down at her now dirty hands, noticing another broken nail and releasing a disgruntled sigh.

"Would you stop saying that? You were the one hell bent on finding a way out of here five minutes ago so less whining and more helping!" Daniel muttered and Vala sighed once more, looking up at him with a pout.

"I'm starting to think we might be in over our heads with this whole Adria situation. I mean, honestly, what are the chances of us magically finding a way out of–"

Vala leaned against the wall, stumbling backwards the moment one of the bricks got pushed back under the pressure of her hand. Daniel and Vala simultaneously took a step back, staring at the opening appearing in front of them. Vala slowly pulled her hand away from the brick, letting out a heavy sigh of relief when the opening remained visible.

"Well, would you look at that!" she exclaimed with a grin. Daniel stared down the pitch black passage way leading out of the chamber, unable to move or speak. He had really come to think that maybe they wouldn't be getting out of the chamber and he certainly hadn't expected Vala to be the one getting them out. The look of astonishment on Daniel's face didn't go unnoticed by Vala, but for once she decided not to rub it in.

"I don't know about you but I say we get going before Adria makes another guest appearance," she said instead and picked up what was left of her things. Daniel snapped out of his trance and hastily gathered up his gear, following Vala down the narrow passage way. It was completely pitch black and the air inside was damp Daniel concluded as he tried not to touch the presumably sticky walls. He took out his flashlight and turned it on, fearing that the battery wasn't going to last for much longer and they had no idea when they'd be seeing daylight again.

"Is it just me or is us finding this passage way a little too convenient?" he said skeptically and Vala slowed down, glancing at him across her shoulder.

"Can't you just be glad we're finally out of there? I'm sure Adria isn't behind _everything_ that's happened to us. According to that statue inscription, evil beings like her weren't supposed to get to this secret dimension."

"I'm pretty sure it's not so secretive anymore. Her ascension makes it easy for her to do something like this. Only thing I don't get is why she's stringing us along."

"I have an even better question for you; how is it that she knows our exact location?"

Daniel stopped dead in his tracks as soon as Vala had uttered those last words. She too stopped walking once she realized Daniel wasn't following her anymore. He was wrapped up in his own thoughts and as Vala slowly made her way back to him, she could tell he was onto something.

"Daniel…?"

"That _is_ actually a good question. Even with her new ascended powers, she shouldn't be able to know our every move."

Vala would've normally taken the opportunity to do some gloating at the fact that she'd gotten it right for once, but the look on Daniel's face made her far too nervous to do any kind of gloating. He abruptly snapped out of his daze and looked straight at her, making Vala wonder what was going on inside that mind of his.

"Get rid of your gear," he said and Vala stared blankly at him.

"Come again?"

"Loose the gear!"

"Yeah, I heard that part! You mind telling me _why_ we should leave behind the things we need in order to _survive_?"

"Because it might contain the one thing leading Adria right to us!"

Vala opened her mouth to protest, but Daniel quickly dropped his gear on the ground with a stern look on his face. She hesitated for a moment before reluctantly dropping her backpack to the ground with the half empty water bottle still in hand.

"Am I at least allowed to keep this?" she asked sarcastically and Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course we're keeping the water bottles, as well as the flashlight. The rest is just slowing us down and most likely showing Adria exactly where we going."

"You honestly think she's planted some kind of tracker on our backpacks?" Vala asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"You of all people shouldn't be surprised if she did. We don't have time to double check. Just leave it and let's get going while we still have light," Daniel said and gave Vala a firm nudge in the right direction. She reluctantly left behind all her things and picked up her pace, Daniel just inches behind her. All of the sudden their little romantic moment was the furthest thing from both their minds and now they all wanted was to get back home.

* * *

"Anybody brought a knife? 'Cause I'm gonna cut off my own two legs if this passage way doesn't end soon!"

"That's what you said an hour ago. Just keep going. We'll eventually reach the end just like with the tunnels."

"This is _nothing_ like the tunnels! The tunnels were roomy and practically cozy compared to this hellhole!"

Sam sighed heavily and gave Teal'c an almost pleading look behind Cam's back. The three had stumbled across a passage away some hours ago, hoping it would finally lead them back. Instead it had only pissed off Cam to a point where even Teal'c contemplated silencing him until they reached the end of the passage way.

"I told you not to dump the gear," Sam said and Cam hastily turned around facing them.

"It was stuck to the wall! What would you rather have me do? _Die_ because of some useless stuff that don't help us at all down here?"

"It wasn't all useless. Your food and water was in there. Looks like you could use it right about now."

"Let's just keep going. Unless… any of you actually brought along a knife?"

Sam and Teal'c stared at Cam in silence, both raising an eyebrow in question. He quickly waved his hand about in a dismissive manner before resuming his walk.

"Look, I'm _sure_ we're close to the finishing line by now. And when we get there, the first thing we'll do is–"

"Find a way back to the planet and then straight to the SGC!" Cam exclaimed and Sam looked at Teal'c, realizing that trying to reason with Cam at the moment was close to impossible. The only thing mattering to him was getting back to Stargate Command and stay in bed for days to come.

"Actually, I was talking about Daniel and Vala. We can't just leave them stranded in this dimension," Sam said and Cam immediately stopped walking.

"Right. I knew that. So, how do we go about finding them? We have absolutely no idea where they are and what's worse, we have no idea where _we_ are!" he cried out, his words echoing down the passage way.

"Perhaps you should try and remain calm, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c suddenly said and Sam instantly knew that wasn't the thing to say to Cam in his current state.

"Yeah I'll get right on that once we're out of here," Cam muttered, suddenly turning his head sideways with a concentrated look on his face.

"What is it?" Sam asked and Teal'c walked up alongside Cam, listening for the same sound Cam had picked up on.

"I'm not sure but it almost sounds like…"

"Vala Mal Doran."

"And Jackson."

"What?" Sam blurted out, suddenly hearing the distant echo of voices. Cam looked at Teal'c and Sam in silence for a moment before staring down the passage way, hearing something that sounded a lot like Daniel and Vala's voices. Cam wasn't sure if his mind was playing tricks on him but since both Teal'c and Sam also heard the voices, he figured it could very well be Daniel and Vala.

"Jackson!" Cam called out hesitantly and the voices quickly died down. Just as Cam was about to convince himself that he was imagining everything due to hunger and exhaustion, the sound of footsteps was closing in on them. Seconds later Daniel and Vala rounded the corner and came face to face with the others.

"Hey guys," Daniel said with a relieved smile and Vala immediately embraced Sam in a hug.

"So, I guess your little plan worked," Cam said and turned to Daniel, who shrugged nonchalantly in response.

"Lucky shot I guess. What about you? Managed to find a way out here yet?" he asked and Cam sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"Well at least we're all together now," Sam as Vala finally let go of her. "Besides, it can't get much worse from here on."

Vala froze up, carefully glancing over at Daniel, unsure if she wanted to tell the others about the very possible threat hanging over all of them now. Adria hadn't contacted Vala for a while, which didn't necessarily mean they were out of harm's way just yet.

"Actually, I wouldn't be too sure about that," she blurted out and all eyes turned on her. "Adria is onto us. She… _contacted_ me before and made it quite clear she would catch up sooner rather than later."

"What do you mean she 'contacted' you?" Sam asked with a puzzled look.

"She read my mind," Vala sighed and Cam mentally began counting to ten. Vala grinned nervously at him, edging closer to Sam just in case Cam would try something.

"So what you're saying is that we still have Adria after us? And she knows where we are because she's… reading your mind?" Cam asked, making sure he'd heard right.

"More or less. Daniel had this _brilliant_ idea that it was because she'd somehow planted a tracker on either of us," Vala said and Cam turned to look at Daniel, who shrugged in response.

"It sounded reasonable at the time. And as far as I know, Adria hasn't called back yet so hopefully we're in the clear. Either way, we can't stand around here," he said and Cam nodded along.

"Exactly what I've been saying. So, Jackson, any more bright ideas?"

"Oh, so we're relying on me now? Despite what you think, Mitchell, I'm not exactly an expert on these things either."

"Well you've been doing this slightly longer than I have, so I'd say your knowledge would come in handy right about now."

"And right now I suggest we get out of here by following this passage away and hope that it actually leads somewhere."

Vala suddenly felt shivers going down her spine. Blocking out Daniel and Cam's bickering, she glanced around the passage way. It was practically pitch black and completely soundless aside from the others' voices, which gave Vala the creeps for the first time. She normally wasn't one to get easily spooked but there was something that wasn't quite right. She had the nagging feeling that they weren't alone anymore and there was no doubt in her mind who was lurking in the shadows.

"It _doesn't_ lead anywhere! This whole dimension is one big _endless_ tunnel! We're never getting out here and it's time you admit it!"

"We've been in worse situations before and–"

"No, _we_ haven't! What I need to hear is an actual plan that allows us to get back to _our dimension_!"

"Boys, there's–"

"Not now, Vala!"

"But, Cam, I really think–"

"Jackson, all I'm saying is that we can't keep doing this."

Vala rolled her eyes at them, realizing they were still bickering on how to proceed. She crossed her arms, glaring at Cam until he finally caught her eye and immediately stopped talking.

"Hate to break up the party, boys, but I'm pretty sure we're–"

"Not alone."

The frightening familiar voice sent shivers down Vala's back once more and she reluctantly turned around, coming face to face with Adria yet again. Cam, Sam and Teal'c immediately raised their weapons and aimed them at Adria despite knowing it wouldn't do her any harm.

"How did you–"

"You honestly thought you could escape me? Once I got through to this dimension, I could tell your every move. I'm actually surprised you've lasted this long," Adria smirked and flames erupted around her, the formerly brown eyes now tainted from the fire. Vala quickly took a step back, realizing that they weren't getting out of there quite so easily with Adria standing firmly in their way.

"I don't suppose you're just gonna let us waltz out of here?" Cam asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. If she hadn't been glued to the spot, Vala would've gone with her instinct and run the other way quicker than Adria could finish a sentence. But the others did things differently and she could never leave them alone with her. She also didn't think for a second that she actually could escape Adria on foot that easily.

"I already know that you know the answer to that question, Colonel Mitchell, and I'm afraid your little journey ends right here," Adria said and the evil smirk on the face grew wider as she finished the sentence.

"I _knew_ you were gonna say that," Cam muttered under his breath. Vala glanced over at Daniel, both knowing that they needed a miracle to get out alive this time.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. Chapter V

**A/N:** So this is the final chapter of the story folks. I hope you've enjoyed it; I know did while putting it together. As mentioned on my profile, this will be the last **Stargate** fan fiction in a while and the reason I felt the urge to upload this chapter was because next week I'm attending the **Farscape Farewell Convention** and (hopefully) getting to see Claudia Black. Anyways, I felt that it was fitting to put my latest Vala Mal Doran fan fiction to rest the week before the convention. Okay, enough bragging and on with the story...

* * *

**CHAPTER V **

"Anybody got an idea on how we'll get out of this mess?" Cam hissed at the others while they were heading down the passage way with Adria not far behind. At the moment she was content with keeping them under her watchful eye instead of invading their minds, but that could swiftly change without any warning. Vala kept glancing back at Adria every now and then, desperately trying to come up with some sort of plan. Even before she ascended Adria was close to impossible to overpower and escaping her now wasn't even within the realm of possibilities.

"If she does have some kind of tracker on us, I suggest we locate it and get rid of it," Sam whispered back and Vala turned her attention back to her team mates.

"What's to say that'll solve anything? She'll still be able to kill us with her brain," Cam muttered.

"If that's her plan, then why hasn't she already? She contacted Vala earlier without even being present which should've given her the perfect opportunity to kill. So far the only power she's on us used is telepathy," Sam said and just as she'd finished the sentence, Daniel had his epiphany.

"Maybe she's only using her telepathic power because that's the only she _can_ use," he blurted out, immediately lowering his voice so that Adria wouldn't hear. For all they knew, she could very well be listening in on their conversation. If so, she did an excellent job of keeping a straight face and not torture them right on the spot. Which could be because she didn't have enough power despite being an ascended?

"So you're saying we should make a break for it, keeping our fingers crossed that she won't set fire to us by the wave of a hand?" Cam whispered sarcastically and Daniel hesitated for a moment before giving Cam a quick nod.

"Either that or…"

"Or what?"

"I don't know, but I can't imagine it being pretty."

Vala quickly grabbed a hold of Daniel's arm, urging herself to remain calm. She wanted to cry out her objections loudly but managed to keep it down.

"How about we try Sam's idea? If it's a tracker and we can remove it somehow, then I'm all for running. But don't you think we need some kind of proof that Adria isn't in possession of _all_ her ascended powers?" she whispered, her grip on Daniel's arm tightening by the second. He met her determined stare and didn't even bother to try and object this time.

"Sounds reasonable enough, but I'm pretty sure we'll need a volunteer for it to work," he said turning back to the others, giving them all a meaningful look. Before any of them had had a chance to fully process the statement, Vala let go of Daniel and head back towards Adria.

"What the…! What is she doing?" Cam snapped, stepping up next to Daniel with his P-90 on standby. He could tell that Daniel fought the urge to head after Vala and couldn't help but wonder why the chemistry between the two had changed so suddenly. They hadn't bickered even once since the team had reunited and Cam was pretty sure it wasn't just because they were in the company of the former Orici.

As Vala waltzed up to Adria, she managed to look surprisingly confident. She noticed a sudden glow in Adria's dark eyes, well aware of the possibility that none of Adria's powers had been blocked by entering the alternative dimension. Vala could feel the others staring at her from behind but she knew she had to be the bait this time.

"So, I guess there's no point in trying to lie to you? What with the mind reading and all," she said with a nonchalant shrug and Adria's smirk dissipated. She tilted her head slightly to the side, narrowing her eyes as she stared intensely at Vala. The uncomfortable silence would've normally have worried Vala but not this time.

"What are you doing?" Adria asked sternly and Vala grinned innocently.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything. And neither are you apparently."

Adria stepped up closer to Vala, staring her straight in the eye and for a moment fire flamed up inside of her. Vala could tell Adria was losing what little patience she had and it amused Vala to see her former daughter no longer in control.

"As you've already figured it out, I'm blocking you. Despite being an Ascended, your powers are failing the longer you stay in this dimension. How does it feel to be the weak one?" Vala asked sarcastically and Adria practically growled, raising her hands to set Vala on fire but nothing happened. Vala sighed with relief inwardly, not actually believing her plan would've worked.

"Now, darling, you really should learn how to play nice with others," Vala whispered to Adria as she leaned in closer, firing off the zat she'd taken out from the pocket of her BDU. As Adria slowly crumbled to the ground with an echoing thud Vala finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling her heart rate increasing.

"Did you just do what I think you did?" Cam asked as the others hesitantly walked over to Vala. She drew a deep breath, tucking away the zat while smiling casually at Cam.

"You can thank me later, but right now I'm thinking we need something to tie her up with," she said. Daniel walked over to Adria's motionless body, bending down to take a closer look. The zat had certainly overpowered her and she was knocked out for the time being, and Daniel couldn't help but think what the others were already thinking.

"That worked a little too well," he said with a concerned expression and Vala stopped gloating the moment she noticed the others' equally concerned faces.

"What's with you people? I just proved that her powers didn't work and as a bonus I got to zat her unconscious. I realize we haven't actually won but at least we have a chance at keeping her trapped here until her precious Priors come to rescue her which might buy us time to work on a real plan of saving Earth!" she blurted out in one swift breath, in the end finding herself staring straight at Daniel.

"Since we don't exactly have time to think of anything better, I say we settle for tying her up. At least that buys us enough time to get out of here without her tagging along," Cam suddenly said and Vala turned her attention away from Daniel. She pulled out a string of rope from another pocket in her BDU, obliviously to the looks she was getting from the rest of the team.

"What else is in there?" Cam joked as Vala bent down to tie up Adria's hands behind her back, tightening the rope as much as possible just in case.

"I just like being prepared is all," Vala said with a nonchalant shrug once she got back up on her feet again. Truth be told, Vala wasn't one to prepare for much but lately she realized it didn't hurt having certain things with her whenever they went off world. Bringing along the rope had been sort of a stretch but it did prove to be useful after all.

"So… we just gonna leave her here?" Sam asked and before Vala had a chance to reply, Cam took the words right out of her mouth.

"This is a good a place as any. Now, I suggest we get going before she wakes up and wanna play."

"Sounds good to me," Vala sighed as they started heading down the passage way. She was well aware of Daniel's glances but at the time being she was instead focused on getting as far away from Adria as possible.

* * *

Once again they were faced with seemingly endless walking as exhaustion overcame them but they managed to push past it, their longing to return to SGC greater than their longing to sleep. Daniel and Vala had ended up at the end of the line, slowing down their pace to increase the distance between them and the others. After sneaking glances at Vala for quite a while, Daniel decided he couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"Look, Vala, about what happened–"

"Daniel, it's okay," Vala said cutting him off. "We weren't exactly thinking straight."

"Okay," Daniel said and abruptly stopped walking. "Who are you and what have you done with Vala?"

Vala came to an instant stop when she realized he was being serious. Not that she'd ever seen him being funny but this time there was something different about him. The way he stared at her and the way he had just addressed wasn't the typical behavior of the Daniel Jackson she knew. Then again she hadn't exactly been herself either since the mission started but she hadn't noticed the difference in Daniel until now.

"What do you mean?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the others kept walking. She wasn't a shy person by a long shot but she knew they were about to discuss a sensitive matter and _that_ she didn't want the others to be around for.

"Being modest doesn't suit you, Vala. I realize this might not be the right time or place to talk about what happened earlier but you can't keep blaming it on temporary insanity. Sooner or later you have to actually talk about it. Something I can imagine isn't familiar territory for you," Daniel said and Vala stared at him, surely feeling something very familiar bubbling up inside of her. Despite everything they had been through Daniel still got on her nerves and apparently she still had the same effect on him. Some things never changed.

"Look who's talking! You're tighter than a corkscrew!" she snapped, making sure to keep her voice down even though she felt like screaming out loud. For a moment Daniel was speechless, impressed over the fact that Vala had gotten a saying right for once.

"Then again maybe you're right. It was 'a heat of the moment' type of thing so I guess we might as well leave it at that before we both say something we regret," he muttered and brushed past her without another word, catching up with the others. Vala sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. She really was terrible at having a normal adult conversation especially when it came to relationships and love. _Love._ Vala instantly got goose bumps just thinking about it, not to mention how she would react saying it out loud. Attraction she could handle without any problems since it had helped her survive for so long on her own, but love complicated things a whole lot more.

"Hey, Princess! You coming?" Cam suddenly called out and Vala turned around, abruptly torn away from her thoughts. She caught up with them, mustering up a brave smile as she made brief eye contact with Cam before they started walking again.

The rest of the way Vala and Daniel both stayed quiet, forced to listen to Cam's discussion about football with Teal'c. After a while Vala absently started playing with the shadows on the mountain walls, being bored beyond belief but she didn't care enough to voice her discomfort for once. Despite her boredom she had a million little things rushing around inside her head, one of them being of course Daniel. Her train of thoughts came suddenly to a screeching halt when she realized that the others had pulled to a stop. She walked up next to Sam with a puzzled look, about to ask why they'd stopped when she noticed a wall in front of them. The passage way had ended and so they were stonewalled. Literality.

"Why does _this_ keep happening?" Cam cried out in disbelief, looking like he wanted to run straight into the wall. As she took a few steps closer, Vala swore she could feel heat radiating from the wall. She removed her vest before stepping even closer to the wall.

"Uhm, Vala, what are you doing?" Sam asked with a confused frown and exchanging glances with the others. Even Cam in his less than stabile state had noticed Vala's strange behavior.

"There's something behind this wall. Something that's increasing the heat even on this side," Vala said as she carefully got closer to the wall. Cam looked at the others in silence, hesitantly moving over towards Vala and within seconds he started to feel incredibly warm. Once he was alongside Vala the heat was worse but seemed to remain on the same level, which made Cam wonder what was on the other side of the wall.

"What do you think it is?" he asked her, and Vala suddenly reached out a hand to touch the wall before any of the others could stop her. Cam watched as her hand went straight through some kind of matter that only looked to be stone.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely not a stone wall," Vala said as she retreat her hand. "And just like I expected, the heat only gets worse on the other side of this little illusion. But considering our tactic so far I say we might as well continue on through to the other side."  
Cam opened his mouth to speak but closed it quickly when he heard what Vala was suggesting. He turned and gave her a full on glare, trying to come up with a retort that put an end to her madness. Vala glanced in his direction, well aware of his intense glare, and put on an innocent grin.

"You expect us to step through that thing despite the very real possibility of getting burned alive?" Cam said, doing his best not to raise his voice in frustration.

"It wouldn't be any more dangerous than what we've been through already. We did survive all the previous death traps so I have a pretty strong feeling that we'll survive this one without problem," Vala said confidently and Cam looked at the illusion stone wall in front of him in silence. He knew they couldn't go back for two very obvious reasons, one of them being Adria which provided all the reason he needed to convince himself that moving forward was still their only option.

"And I have a pretty strong feeling that we won't make it through _without_ problem. So far it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride," he sighed and turned to the others. "Anybody up for some more exploring?"

"Well, if this is anything like last time, we should be fairly close to the end by now. Just another fiery obstacle to overcome," Daniel said with a nonchalant shrug and Cam nearly burst out in laughter.

"Seems like we've been close to the end this whole time, so let's hope for everyone's sake that we're actually getting there after this fire thing," he said and as Vala bent down to pick up her vest, she noticed that a small device had fallen to the ground next to it. She picked up the device, studying it up close for a few seconds before suddenly getting shivers down her spine once again.

"Guys," she said hesitantly, looking up at the others with the device in hand. "Is this what I think it is?"

Everyone's attention turned to the tiny device Vala had in her hand and as a red light suddenly began glowing, there was no question about it. The device formerly attached to Vala's vest was the reason Adria had been able to track them down. Vala let go out of the device and the moment it hit the ground, she stomped on it to make sure it would never work again. With a relived sigh and a satisfied smile, Vala picked up her vest and put it on.

"So, shall we?" she said, oblivious to the others' stares. Cam snapped out of his daze and hesitantly reached out to touch the stone wall, feeling his hand pass through the wall like Vala's had and in the next moment he felt an increasing heat on the other side. The possibility of what waited for them over there didn't sit well with Cam but he decided against better judgment to risk it anyway.

"Let's go before I change my mind," he sighed with a sideway glance at Vala before he took a deep breath, taking a giant leap and in the next second he was through the matter. The others formed a line and moments later they were on the other side with Cam, overwhelmed by the sudden heat.

"This is so _not_ our day," Cam muttered and glared at Vala. "What do you think our odds are against _that_?"

Vala looked in the direction Cam was pointing, feeling her stomach tensing up at the sight of an enormous volcano in front of them. Aside from the questionable stairwell carved out in stone leading up to the volcano opening, there was a handmade bridge going across the opening over to the other side which looked unsteady to say the least.

"Right, well, we've…" Vala stuttered, deliberately avoiding Cam's stare. "You know, you can't expect me to know these things! It's not like I've ever been here before!"

"That's a first," Daniel mumbled under his breath and Vala instantly turned to glare at him with narrowed eyes, forgetting all about Cam for the moment.

"Look, how about we stop blaming each other for something that's out of our hands and instead get going before things get worse," Sam interjected and met her team mates frustrated glances.

"You heard the lady!" Cam said loudly and looked directly at Vala and Daniel for a moment before turning towards the stairwell. "It's just a volcano. What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

The stairwell turned out to be the least of their problems. Despite it being poorly constructed, they made it to the top of the volcano eventually. Vala looked down every now and then even though she knew better, and for a moment she was tempted to actually turn back. She figured Adria couldn't be much worse than a blazing volcano now that her powers didn't work.

"_Don't_."

Vala snapped out of her daze, finding herself staring Daniel straight in the eye all of the sudden. They hadn't really spoken to each other for quite a while and for the first time Vala realized how much she missed their bickering, since actual conversations had never been their thing.

"Don't what?" she asked with a dubious expression on her face and Daniel nearly rolled his eyes at her out of habit.

"Don't try your luck retracing our steps. This whole thing only goes in one way direction and besides, I'm pretty sure Adria is on the loose by now which means trouble," he said sternly and Vala couldn't help but be impressed at how Daniel had managed to predict what was on her mind so easily. If it wasn't for his rude tone of voice or patronizing stare, she might've taken the opportunity to apologize for her earlier behavior but she quickly decided not to give him the satisfaction of being right.

"For your information, I wasn't planning on doing anything like that," she lied and brushed past him. The others were slowly making their way out onto the bridge, which started swaying back and forth as soon as they set foot on it. Vala really had to fight the urge to run back despite her little white lie and moments later it was her turn to step out on the bridge. She forced herself not to look down and took a deep breath before following the others' lead.

"They really did a poor job with this thing!" Vala exclaimed midway across the bridge, holding onto the reins for dear life. "You'd think they would at least not put it over a volcano of all places!"

"Something tells me they probably didn't have any other choice," Sam said from up ahead, glancing back at Vala over her shoulder. "You guys doing okay back there?"

"Oh yeah, just peachy," Daniel muttered and for once Vala had to agree with him.

The bridge seemed go on forever what with the increasing heat rising up from the volcano beneath their feet. Despite her inner chanting, Vala glanced down at the flaming lava and decided to pick up her pace before she did something stupid. In her sudden rush to get across and refusing to look down, she failed to see the crack in the wood ahead of her. The moment she put down her foot on the damaged area it all fell apart. When she saw the hole opening up around her and felt her legs dangling helplessly in the humid air, Vala was unable to get a word out. She had expected herself to scream her lungs out when something like this happened but instead she'd gone speechless.

"Vala!" Daniel cried out and carefully made his way over to her without the bridge moving about too much. He kneeled down as close to Vala as possible, taking a hold of one of her hands while Teal'c grabbed hold of the other.

"Just my luck," Vala said with a shaky voice, putting a brave smile as Teal'c and Daniel started pulling her up out of the hole. As soon as she touched ground again, Vala couldn't be more relieved. She suddenly found herself embracing Daniel, terrified of letting go at first.

"You okay?" he said and Vala reluctantly pulled away, looking at him with tired eyes.

"Not really. But I will be," she mumbled and sighed heavily.

"Guys!" Cam suddenly called out and everyone turned around, seeing half of Cam already through another pretend stone wall. "I think I've found the way out of here!"

As soon as he had uttered those words, Vala felt like screaming out loud once more but this time out of joy. She gave Daniel a quick glance, her face lit up with a genuine smile.

"How about we get out of here?" she said with a wink, tagging after the others to where Cam was.

"I don't know about you but I'm ready to get out of this heat," Cam said and passed through the wall. Sam and Teal'c exchanged quick glances before following his lead. Vala hesitated for a brief moment before passing through the stone wall within seconds.

What waited for her on the other side made her speechless for the second time, staring at the large group of people in front of her. They all turned and stared back at her in silence as Daniel appeared by her side.

"Well," he said. "I guess we now know what happened to all the missing village people."

"So you travelled all this way to get to… the village?" Vala asked with a confused expression as she suddenly realized that the surroundings reminded her of the village where everything had started.

"Actually, it's more like a duplicate of the village," Daniel said with a bemused look and in that moment Vala noticed the lack of the statue.

"I take it has something do with the statue back at the 'real' village?" Vala asked and looked over at Sam, whom nodded in response.

"Seems like the people got the statue from the village's founder to use in case of emergency. In this case it was the Priors presence that caused them to activate the statue and travel the same way we did in order to get here. Where they can see whoever enters the village but still remain invisible," Sam explained.

"Right… and how exactly do we get back to our dimension?" Vala asked and continued looking around, hoping to see something as simple as an exit door.

"There's a loophole which we can use to get back directly to the Stargate and dial out," Cam said with a relieved sigh. "According to reliable sources the Priors aren't anywhere near it right now so we'll have to move fast."

"And seeing as how Adria and the Priors will not be able to get through the illusion stone wall, these people are in no danger thanks to whoever came up with the alternative dimension. Which means they don't really need our help anymore with the Priors and it also means we just bought ourselves some extra time to deal with Adria," Sam added.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Vala suddenly exclaimed.

"Nothing at all," Sam smiled. "Nothing at all…"

* * *

Vala checked her reflection in the mirror for the countless time, asking herself if she really had chosen the right kind of outfit. Instead of overdoing it with a ballroom dress, she'd chosen a skirt and blouse combination. Topping it all off with her favorite pair of pumps. Aside from that she didn't look all that different from earlier. Not even the make-up or hair had gone through any drastic change even though Vala was starting to have her doubts. She quickly applied another layer of lip gloss, double checking that all her jewelry was in place. The sudden knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she drew a deep breath before opening the door.

"On time like always," she said at the sight of Daniel out in the hallway. "You know, we _could_ skip the dinner and cut straight to the fun part seeing as how we've already been on a date."

"For the last time, it _wasn't_ a date! What we're going on now _is_," Daniel sighed and Vala grinned at him, stepping out into the hallway while closing the door behind her.

"Whatever you say, darling. Did you manage to convince the others of that?" she asked with a devious look as they started moving down the hallway arm in arm.

"Not really. And you should've seen Cam when I told him about tonight," Daniel said with an amused smile.

"I imagine he had the same look on his face as I did when you asked me out. Not exactly something you expect to hear from Daniel Jackson himself," Vala said and leaned her head against his shoulder as they continued walking. "So where are we going?"

"Some place you'll never forget."

"Excellent! So… your place then?"

* * *

**THE END.**


End file.
